Latest news with #TOF
BBC News
6 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Mum from Essex wins settlement from NHS over newborn's care
A mum has won a settlement against an NHS trust after she said medical staff failed to listen to her concerns and diagnose her newborn's medical 43, from Harwich, Essex, said her daughter Piper has esophageal atresia and tracheo-oesophageal fistula, a condition where the esophagus does not form properly preventing food from reaching the stomach. After Piper's birth she said she told hospital staff her daughter was not swallowing milk and said: "It felt like I was screaming from the rooftops. I just wasn't being listened to." The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust admitted to failing to care for Piper properly and accepted it made several breaches of duty. Piper was born at Broomfields Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex, in September 2021 and was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge for life-saving surgery two days condition, known as TOF, also means she has a gap between the esophagus and trachea."Piper was not seen by a paediatrician quickly enough, she was being fed throughout her first day even though it made her turn blue and choke and she was only rushed to Addenbrooke's after hours and hours of suffering," Samantha said. She added Piper has been left with a four-inch scar because she had to have her chest drained after medics continued to feed her not realising that the milk and stomach acid were going into her lungs."One easy scan would have picked [the condition] up and meant Piper would have been born in a specialist unit at Addenbrooke's Hospital rather than at my local hospital, which failed to take the proper action," she said. Samantha was 39 when she had her baby and said she was automatically put in the "high-risk category" because of her she said the trauma she went through with her daughter could have been avoided if medical staff had listened to a 20-week scan Samantha was told by a midwife she had polyhydramnios, which is a build-up of amniotic fluid around the baby."I had a very distinct feeling that it was thought [by medical staff] I was being paranoid - that this was just a build up of mucus," she added. "If sonographers knew what they were looking for, perhaps she could have been born in the right place, she would have had a tube inserted at birth. "We needed have gone through that trauma of trying to feed a baby and then choking again and again."Why are we putting babies through that and mums," she said. Piper, now aged three, loves eating food now and has been doing really well, she said. Yet Piper's condition is life-long and she will receive care from the surgical team at Addenbrooke's Hospital until she is 16, her mother said. "I cannot tell you how many times I have been sat in front of a GP trying to explain her condition and sort of being disregarded and it's been happening to parents of TOF babies and children all over the UK."Samantha believed there was a lack of knowledge of the condition amongst healthcare professionals and recalled how once a GP Googled the condition during a consultation."For so many parents that fight is not over - or it is just begun. "I don't think that NHS strategy of let's wait and see will ever change, but if we can get the conversation going - I am very happy to talk about Piper."Denise Townsend, the deputy chief nurse for Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We sincerely apologise that the level of care received by Piper was not to the standard she and her family should have expected." Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
India Today
22-07-2025
- Health
- India Today
Four complex heart procedures performed without a single cut all-in-one day
In what cardiologists are calling a major step forward for congenital heart disease management in India, four patients underwent Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Replacement (TPVR) procedures on July 3rd at Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, without requiring open-heart surgery. TPVR is a minimally invasive technique that replaces a damaged heart valve using a thin, flexible tube (catheter) inserted through a blood vessel, avoiding the need to open the chest patients, all of whom had undergone surgery during childhood for Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), a birth-related heart condition that affects normal blood flow through the heart, had returned years later with complications from a leaking pulmonary valve. This kind of leakage is a known long-term consequence of the initial repair. Traditionally, such cases would require another round of open-heart surgery, which comes with significant risks and extended the cardiology team carried out the TPVR procedures using the Harmony Valve system, a new-generation valve made of biological tissue and mounted on a metal frame. As a result of this treatment, the four patients: a 37-year-old from Delhi, a 17-year-old from Noida, a 14-year-old from Gurgaon, and a 15-year-old from Noida, were each discharged within 48 hours of the procedure, a significant reduction from the usual 10-12 day hospital stay. "Globally, nearly 40% of patients who undergo childhood repair for Tetralogy of Fallot will require a pulmonary valve replacement within three decades." said Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Head & Professor, Paediatric Cardiology and Adult Congenital Heart Disease,'In India, the vast majority of these reinterventions are still managed through conventional surgery. Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Replacement (TPVR) offers a less invasive, faster alternative with a global success rate exceeding 95%, yet its uptake in India remains under 10%. This is largely due to issues of cost, access, and the fact that most clinical protocols here still prioritise surgical options.'Dr. Sushil Azad, Deputy Head & Principal Consultant, Paediatric Cardiology added, 'The TVPR procedure is particularly valuable for patients with prior multiple open-heart procedures or high surgical risk. In a country like India, where an estimated 200,000 children are born each year with congenital heart disease and access to timely surgical care remains limited, broader adoption of TPVR could be transformative. Integrating TPVR into standard CHD care pathways can help us deliver safer, faster, and more sustainable treatment to thousands who currently face delayed or repeated high-risk surgeries.'A multidisciplinary team of 5 interventional and pediatric cardiologists including Dr. Ankit Garg, Consultant, Interventional Cardiology; Dr. Savita Krishnamurthy Guin, Assistant Professor, Paediatric Cardiology; and Dr. Shashikapoor Dubbar Yadav, Assistant Professor, Paediatric Cardiology were involved in the successful procedures, with each lasting roughly 60 to 90 Hospital is currently the only centre in India independently authorised to perform the Harmony Valve implantation without international Hospitals is a leading multi-specialty healthcare institution committed to delivering world-class medical care with compassion and innovation. Established in 1998 under the visionary guidance of Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma), Amrita Hospitals operates with the core philosophy that healthcare should be accessible to all, regardless of socio-economic background.- Ends
Time of India
06-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
City Docs Save Woman With Congenital Heart Defect Without Open Surgery
Nagpur: In a groundbreaking development, Nagpur-based doctors performed a rare and highly advanced heart procedure that saved a young woman's life — without open heart surgery. The patient, born with a complex congenital heart defect known as Blue baby syndrome (Tetralogy of Fallot or TOF), a condition wherein a baby's skin turns bluish due to lack of oxygen in blood, had undergone a major open-heart surgery as a child. Now an adult, she recently became severely unwell due to a leaking heart valve and needed another major surgery. Instead of undergoing another high-risk open-heart operation, she received a minimally invasive treatment — much like angioplasty — through a vein in her leg. Incredibly, the patient was able to walk and talk just an hour after the procedure and was ready to go home within 24 hours. This life-saving and rare procedure, known as Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Implantation, was successfully carried out by Dr Manish Chokhandre, senior interventional paediatric cardiologist at Arneja Heart Institute. "Redo open-heart surgeries are extremely risky, especially in adults with childhood congenital heart conditions," explained Dr Chokhandre. "We carefully studied the patient's unique heart structure, custom-designed a special valve, and performed the entire procedure without opening the chest. " Welcoming the advancement, Dr Amar Amale, president of Cardiological Society of India (CSI), Vidarbha chapter, said, "Gone are the days when children had to undergo open-heart surgery with large chest incisions. Paediatric cardiology has advanced to a level where even a complex congenital heart condition in an adult, who earlier had childhood surgery, can now be treated through a simple leg vein — just like an angioplasty. It's a huge leap in cardiac care." "Paediatric cardiology needs more attention. One in every 100 children is born with a heart defect. Many go undiagnosed or are diagnosed too late," said Dr Chokhandre, who regularly performs heart procedures on newborns. Veteran cardiologist Dr Jaspal Arneja said, "Thanks to medical advances and new technologies, even complex heart problems can be treated more safely. With artificial intelligence (AI) helping us understand heart function better, we can now offer more accurate and effective treatment." This successful case from Nagpur brings hope to hundreds of children and adults born with heart defects — and shows how medical science and skillful execution are transforming lives, one heartbeat at a time. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Eid wishes , messages , and quotes !
Fibre2Fashion
13-05-2025
- Business
- Fibre2Fashion
US AAFA submits comments to Canada on PFAS management
The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) recently requested Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Terry Duguid to include an exemption for products that test below the 100 ppm total organic fluorine (TOF) threshold under prohibitions for intentionally-added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in textile products. In California, Vermont and other US states, the intentional addition of PFAS in textile articles is regulated through a limit on TOF, which helps ensure a consistent and easily understood regulatory framework applied across textile products. AAFA members have for several years now been diligently working to ensure products are below the established TOF threshold of 100 parts per million (ppm) currently in place in California. US trade body AAFA has requested Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Terry Duguid to include an exemption for products that test below the 100 ppm total organic fluorine threshold under prohibitions for intentionally-added PFAS in textile products. It also requested Canada to include an exemption from PFAS regulation for products made with at least 50-per cent recycled content. While it is possible to manufacture new, general consumer products without intentionally adding PFAS, it is not possible for textile, apparel or footwear companies to completely eliminate trace contamination that can occur as part of production, AAFA noted. AAFA also requested Canada to include an exemption from PFAS regulation for products made with at least 50-per cent recycled content. Such an exemption is absolutely necessary to enable the industry's transition to a more sustainable and circular sourcing and production, AAFA observed. In a letter to the minister, it urged the Canadian regulatory authorities to consider worker safety when seeking to regulate PFAS and remove personal protective equipment (PPE) from the scope of the proposed Phase 2 prohibition of PFAS in textiles. The requests were part of AAFA's feedback on Canada's 'risk management approach' for PFAS, excluding fluoropolymers, an AAFA release said. Although the 'risk management approach' states that 'alternatives appear to be broadly available to impart waterproof properties to textiles, including in personal protective equipment', it is worth noting that the Washington State Department of Ecology last year declined to propose restrictions on PFAS in PPE because they were unable to identify safer alternatives, AAFA noted. Similarly, California and other jurisdictions that have or are seeking to prohibit the use of intentionally added PFAS in products have created flat exemptions for PPE. Maintaining an exemption for PPE creates regulatory harmonisation and consistency for manufacturers and PPE buyers, AAFA added. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Express Tribune
01-05-2025
- Health
- Express Tribune
India's sabre-rattling takes its toll on innocent lives
Listen to article A Pakistani family's seven-year struggle to obtain medical treatment for their children in India ended in devastation when their visas were abruptly cancelled amidst escalating tensions between India and Pakistan last week, a media report said on Wednesday. According to BBC, Shahid Ali and his wife Ambareen had been trying to secure Indian visas for seven years to get medical treatment for their children, Mansa, 7, and Abdullah, 9, who suffer from a rare heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). After finally obtaining the visas, they arrived at the Asian Institute of Medical Sciences in Faridabad, Haryana, on April 21 – just a day before the killing of 26 tourists in Pahalgam in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Without providing any evidence, the Indian government blamed Pakistan for the attack and announced a raft of punitive measures, including cancelling of the visas of the Pakistani citizens. The Pakistanis in India were told to leave the country in seven days. According to the report, the doctors at the hospital supported every possible way, including pushing up the date of the surgery, but in vain. "An official came and informed us that our visas had been cancelled. Upon hearing this, my wife broke down in tears," BBC quoted Shahid Ali as saying. "When we started preparing to return, the children asked why we were going back without getting treatment. This time, it wasn't just my wifewe both cried. When I couldn't find an answer, I simply told them, 'We'll come again'." Now they had returned to Larkana. Shahid Ali and his family were among those Pakistanis affected by the Indian government's strict measures following the April 22 attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed. The family's ordeal is a testament to the human cost of the Indian government's sabre-rattling vis-a-vis Pakistan. However, this is not the only heart-breaking story. The cancellation of medical visas has affected numerous Pakistani families, who had travelled to India for treatment. Karachi-based Mohammad Imran was another individual, who had been affected. His 16-year-old son Ayaan is paralysed, and Imran had taken him to India for treatment in March. After Pahalgam incident, he was told to leave the country in 48 hours. However, Imran's ordeal does not end there, according to the report. Since, India also cancelled the Pakistani visas granted to the Indian citizens, Imran could return to Pakistan with his son, but his wife could not accompany them, because she happens to be an Indian citizen. With their treatment disrupted and their visas revoked, the affected families have appealed to the Pakistani government to help them secure medical treatment abroad.
